Startseite
Podcasts
From First Principles Podcast
Golden Goose Awards 2026: The Science Behind the Winners (Part 1) (EP 59)

Golden Goose Awards 2026: The Science Behind the Winners (Part 1) (EP 59)

From First Principles vor 1 Monat

0:00

2:07:23

What connects a noise complaint, holiday lights seen from space,
and the physics of a coffee stain? Three unexpected paths from
basic research to discoveries with real-world impact. Krishna
Choudhary and Lester Nare explore the science behind the 2026
Golden Goose Awards: Zhen Xu's work on histotripsy, NASA's Black
Marble nighttime satellite data, and Sidney Nagel's discoveries in
soft matter physics. We start with focused ultrasound and the tiny
bubbles that can break apart targeted tissue, tracing the journey
from early laboratory experiments to clinical research on liver
tumors. Then we look at how Earth's nighttime lights reveal power
outages, disaster recovery, and changing human activity. Finally,
falling drops, coffee stains, and jammed grains open up a world of
robotic grippers and materials that can be trained and retrained.
The thread connecting all three stories is the unexpected value of
federally funded basic research. Part 2 will feature conversations
with the award-winning researchers and AAAS CEO Sudip Parikh.
CHAPTERS 00:00 Golden Goose Awards trailer 01:19 Introducing our
Golden Goose special 02:42 Zhen Xu: From a noise complaint to
histotripsy 05:57 The early ultrasound experiments 13:42
Controlling cavitation with microtripsy 20:29 Tumor destruction and
the immune response 28:33 Histotripsy through the skull 37:23 The
HOPE4LIVER clinical trial 43:55 Why basic research needs time 47:17
FFP updates and supporting the show 49:20 NASA Black Marble:
Holiday lights from space 55:29 Turning night lights into reliable
data 1:01:36 Hurricane Maria and unequal recovery 1:08:12 COVID-19
and changing nighttime activity 1:10:16 Mapping access to
electricity 1:15:20 Where Earth is brightening and dimming 1:32:57
Sidney Nagel and the physics of everyday life 1:37:07 The science
of a falling drop 1:46:02 Why coffee leaves a ring 1:51:04 Jamming:
When grains become rigid 1:53:35 A robotic gripper filled with
grains 1:55:39 Why air pressure changes a splash 1:58:55 Materials
that can be trained and retrained 2:03:26 The payoff from curiosity
2:05:29 Coming in Part 2 2:07:06 Outro FEATURED RESEARCH
Histotripsy: The #HOPE4LIVER single-arm pivotal trial (Radiology,
2024) https://doi.org/10.1148/radiol.233051 NASA's Black Marble
nighttime lights product suite (Remote Sensing of Environment,
2018) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2018.03.017 Training and
retraining liquid crystal elastomer metamaterials for pluripotent
functionality (PNAS, 2025) https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2504304122
WATCH ON YOUTUBE https://youtu.be/rDInUEtTojg EXPLORE FFP Website:
https://ffppod.com Science Funding Tracker:
https://ffppod.com/funding Science Transfer Portal:
https://ffppod.com/transfers America 250:
https://ffppod.com/America250 SUPPORT THE SHOW
https://ffppod.com/donate FOLLOW @FFPPod on X / Instagram / TikTok
/ Facebook